I have really bad news!  

Get prepared for a little pity party:

I have had a tiny “twinge” in my calf for about a week.  It was so slight that I didn’t think much of it, iced it, stretched, foam rolled, cut one run short, etc. Today I decided not to run just to make sure I wasn’t pushing it.  Instead, I stretched really well and foam rolled everything that can be rolled.

Unfortunately, by 2 PM, my right calf twinge turned into a full-blown sharp pain and my right hip kind of spazzed (technical term 😉 ) and things just plain HURT.  Sitting, standing, walking, stretching, everything=OUCH.

I went into full panic mode at this point and quickly scheduled a massage at International Orange (a great yoga studio/spa, just a 5 minute walk from my work).   Thankfully, we didn’t have our usual all day patient load at work, so I was able to slip out a bit early.

WOW– is all I can say about the deep tissue massage I received.  I had NO idea how many knots, sore spots, aches, sharp pains, and sensitive areas I had from my neck to my toes!  Not to mention the amenities- Steam room, beautiful lounge area, tea, spa water, dried fruit, and damn good dark chocolate. I mean, they pretty much had me at the dried apricots & dark chocolate, and then they really upped the ante with the massage! 

Thankfully, my hip spasm/tightness/I-have-no-idea-what’s-going-on-pain decreased significantly after this wonderful massage.  My calf “thing” is still there, but not quite as sharp.

Immediately after feeling this pain today my heart sunk and my mind raced:

“THIS IS NOT IN THE PLAN”

“I CAN’T MISS A RUN”

“I AM ON A TIGHT SCHEDULE FOR THE NEXT 15 WEEKS!”

“HOW MANY DAYS WILL I HAVE TO MISS?!?!”

ETC, ETC, ETC.

If you haven’t been able to figure it out yet ,I will just admit that I am extremely hard on myself, hate change, and can’t stand when my plans are thrown off.  Of course I DID NOT PLAN for an injury, so my brain completely freaks out at possibility that I may be missing some scheduled runs.  

When I first decided to train for this full marathon, I made a promise to myself that I wouldn’t fall into bad habits (restrictive eating, running through pain, not taking rest days).  One thing I know to be true: PAIN MEANS STOP!!!!!  We runners are pretty good at punishing our bodies and pushing the limits.  But, there is a difference between good pain & bad pain.  Bad pain will only become worse pain.  Worse pain can become an injury and an injury means healing time.

When I got home tonight, I really wanted to continue my pity party…maybe make it a big ole’ weekend bash and just fall into my injury sadness.  Thankfully, I gave myself a reality check and then I read an AMAZING blog post by Skinny Chick on Skinny Runner’s blog.  Thanks for the awesome, uplifting comment Jacqueline!

 “These things happen but we pick ourselves up, dust off our Lulu skirts, recover and try again. Injuries are not the end of the world…”

Sometimes you find just what you are looking for 😉

The next few days I am going to stretch, foam roll, relax, and recover.  I am also going to look at this “twinge” as an opportunity to learn a few things about what my body needs and how I can tweak my training to stay strong and healthy.

Have you ever had an injury?

How do you keep a positive attitude when things don’t go as planned?

When life hands YOU lemons, what do you do/make??? (I cut ’em up and make spa water!!!! )

XO,

CS